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Sleep Training -- For Entrepreneur Parents, Not Their Babies

My wife and I just had our second baby. Both kids are under 2, so we don’t sleep at night (well, mostly she doesn’t), and neither of us gets to rest during the day. Not only because of the kids, but because I just launched a home improvement startup, Porch.

Starting a business with young kids is tough. Every day, you have to choose which sacrifices you’re OK with making, and which ones you’re not. Me, I like being completely there when my kids are awake, but I’m happy to be working while they’re sleeping. Weekends are great for our family because with two adults and two kids, we get to play man-to-man defense.

The truth is, though, that even when it’s two-on-two, we are still out-manned. Our 2-year-old son doesn’t stop moving. He only commits life-threatening or homicidal acts once or twice a week on average, but whoever is watching him at the time has to be totally present — partial attention just won’t cut it. In our baby daughter’s first few months of life alone, he’s tried to feed her bacon, goldfish crackers and Styrofoam.

But eventually, they sleep. When they do, I sometimes just sit down on the couch and breathe, but I have to try to be productive. Twenty-four hours rarely feels like enough time to run a business even without kids, so every minute they’re asleep is important. Here’s how I’ve trained myself to get work done during those precious moments

Nap time #1: Baby in your arms

You have no idea how long it’s going to last. You might sneeze, cough, or breathe too deeply. You have to make the time count, and to make matters more interesting, you likely only have one hand to work with.

Training: Go with phone activities like reading or light emails. This is a great time to catch up on what’s happening in the world around you (besides drool bubbles and mac and cheese shortages). And you can usually make a decent dent in those emails that keep piling up. Don’t try to answer anything in detail — typing a long email with one hand is a lost cause. Whether the nap lasts five minutes or an hour, it’s that much more time you have to do something else later.

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